A Father's Dedication to Officer Safety – Exclusive Interview with Adam Conn

Adam Conn is a leader in frontline innovation, wellbeing, and purpose-driven enterprise for the emergency services community. A former Metropolitan Police Officer, Conn has dedicated his post-service career to supporting those on the front lines. Through his company, The Squad Group, he is working to equip Police and Prison Officers with The Glove—a groundbreaking Conductive Distraction and De-escalation Device (CD3) that offers safer intervention options. Alongside initiatives like Coffee for Coppers and Coffee for Heroes, his mission is clear: to protect those who protect us.

Adam Conn, Sirens to Strategy

Introduce yourself! Please tell us about you and your life, so we can get to know you better.

At my core, I'm a father first and everything else second. My three children are my driving force and my greatest teachers. They remind me daily what truly matters in life. These moments of pure joy and discovery with them fuel everything I do professionally.

My journey has taken me from the frontlines as a Metropolitan Police Officer to becoming a strategic advisor and entrepreneur focused on officer safety innovation. That transition wasn't just a career change—it was a mission born from personal experience and a deep understanding of what it means to serve others while wanting to come home safely to your family every night.

I'm the founder of The Squad Group and creator of the Coffee for Coppers initiative, but perhaps more importantly, I'm someone who believes that innovation should serve humanity. Every technology I champion, every solution I advocate for, stems from the simple belief that every officer, every first responder, deserves to return home to their loved ones—just like I want to return home to my three incredible kids.

My children have taught me that the best innovations often come from the simplest observations. They approach problems with curiosity rather than fear, creativity rather than convention. This perspective has shaped how I approach complex challenges in officer safety—sometimes the most effective solutions are the ones that seem obvious once you see them through fresh eyes.

When I'm not working on breakthrough safety technologies or spending time with my children, you'll often find me reflecting on how we can build a safer world for the next generation. After all, the officers we're protecting today are the ones who will keep our children's community’s safe tomorrow.

What inspired you to create The Squad and its unique approach?

The inspiration for The Squad came from a stark realisation during my 22 years in security and emergency services: there was a massive gap between the incredible innovations available in safety technology and the people who needed them most—our frontline protectors.

I witnessed firsthand how officers and emergency responders were making do with outdated equipment, struggling with bureaucratic procurement processes, and often lacking access to solutions that could genuinely save their lives. Meanwhile, I saw retired officers—individuals with decades of invaluable experience—being cast aside once they handed in their warrant cards, with no formal recognition of their continued contribution to community safety.

The breaking point came when I realised that the very people who had dedicated their careers to protecting others were themselves under protected and undervalued. That's when The Squad was born in January 2023.

My unique approach stems from understanding both sides of the equation intimately. Having served as a police officer, security leader, and strategic advisor for ambulance companies, I've experienced the challenges from every angle. I know what it's like to need equipment that works flawlessly under pressure, and I understand the frustration of dealing with suppliers who've never walked in those boots.

What makes The Squad different is that I don't just sell products—I provide solutions backed by real-world experience. Every member of our team comes from an emergency services background. We're not salespeople trying to understand your needs; we ARE you. We've lived those challenges, felt that pressure, and experienced those split-second moments where the right equipment makes the difference between going home safely or not going home at all.

The creation of the UK's first Retired Police Officer ID card exemplifies my philosophy perfectly. Society benefits enormously from the continued involvement of experienced officers, yet there was no formal recognition of their ongoing value. I saw a gap and filled it, just as I do with safety technologies.

My approach is simple: leverage cutting-edge innovation, combine it with deep frontline experience, and deliver it through people who genuinely understand what's at stake. I’m not just bridging the gap between technology and end-users—I’m eliminating it entirely by being both the bridge and the destination.

Every product I source, every service I develop, every partnership I forge is guided by one principle: making the world safer for those who make it safer for all of us

What exciting plans or goals do you have for The Squad’s future?

My future plans for The Squad are laser-focused on one transformational goal: dramatically reducing assaults on police and prison officers through the widespread implementation of The Glove with CD3 technology. This isn't just a business objective—it's a moral imperative that drives everything I do.

My vision is ambitious but achievable: I want to see The Glove become as standard as body armour in every police force and prison system globally. I'm not talking about gradual adoption over decades—I'm talking about urgent, life-saving implementation that happens before we lose another officer to preventable violence.

What excites me most is that I'm already seeing international police forces and prison systems witnessing dramatic reductions in officer assaults. This isn't theoretical anymore — it's proven, documented, life-saving reality. My goal is to accelerate this adoption curve exponentially.

Beyond The Glove, I'm developing a comprehensive ecosystem of officer wellbeing support. Too often, we focus solely on physical protection while neglecting the mental and emotional toll of frontline service. My future plans for The Squad include integrated wellness programs that support officers throughout their careers and into retirement.

I'm also excited about establishing The Squad as the definitive bridge between innovation and implementation. I'm building relationships with technology developers worldwide, ensuring that breakthrough safety solutions reach our officers faster than ever before. No more waiting years for bureaucratic approval of life-saving equipment.

One of my most ambitious projects involves creating a global database of officer safety innovations, making it easier for departments worldwide to learn from each other's successes. When a police force in one country implements a solution that reduces injuries by 60%, I want every force globally to know about it within days, not years.

I'm also expanding our retired officer initiatives. These individuals represent decades of collective wisdom that shouldn't be wasted. My future includes consulting services, mentorship programs, and advisory roles that keep experienced officers connected to active service in meaningful ways.

My ultimate goal is simple but revolutionary: creating a world where every officer who puts on the uniform has access to the absolute best protection, support, and resources available. Where assault reduction isn't hoped for—it's guaranteed through proven technology and comprehensive support systems.

I'm not just building a company; I'm building a movement that puts officer safety at the center of everything I do. The future of The Squad is the future of officer protection, and that future starts now.

If you could change one thing about your industry, what would it be and why?

If I could change one thing about the law enforcement and the prison industry, it would be the overwhelming stigma and resistance attached to bringing new technology to police and prison officers. This outdated mindset is literally costing lives.

The stark reality is that technology has evolved exponentially over the past decade, yet officer protection has remained virtually stagnant. When I tell people that the last significant introduction of protective equipment to frontline officers was the taser over 15 years ago, they're shocked. Fifteen years! In that same timeframe, we've revolutionized smartphones, electric vehicles, medical devices, and countless other technologies, yet the people who risk their lives daily are still using fundamentally the same protective equipment their predecessors used decades ago.

This isn't just about equipment—it's about a cultural resistance to change that treats innovation as suspicious rather than essential. I've witnessed procurement committees reject life-saving technologies not because they don't work, but because they're "too new" or "too different." Meanwhile, officers are being assaulted with weapons and methods that criminals have readily adapted from modern technology.

The stigma exists at every level: department leaders worried about budget justification, officers sceptical of anything that wasn't available during their training, and procurement processes that prioritise familiarity over effectiveness. We've created a system where being the first to adopt a life-saving technology is seen as risky, rather than being the last to adopt it.

I want to change this mindset completely. I want to create an industry culture where the question isn't "Why should we try this new technology?" but rather "Why aren't we implementing this immediately if it can save lives?"

The technology exists today to dramatically reduce officer injuries and deaths. The Glove with CD3 technology can neutralize threats in under three seconds. Advanced protective equipment can prevent injuries that currently sideline officers for months. Communication technologies can coordinate responses more effectively than ever before.

But none of this matters if we can't overcome the institutional inertia that treats innovation as optional rather than essential.

I want to see a fundamental shift where embracing cutting-edge officer protection becomes a badge of honor for departments, not a bureaucratic burden. Where officers are excited about new safety technologies rather than sceptical of them. Where the industry moves as fast to protect our protectors as it does to prosecute criminals.

Every day we maintain this stigma against technological advancement is another day we send officers into danger with outdated protection. That's not just unacceptable—it's inexcusable.

Tell us about a pivotal moment in your life that brought you to where you are today.

There wasn't just one moment—there were several that accumulated like stones in my chest until I couldn't ignore the weight anymore. But if I had to pinpoint the pivotal moment that changed everything, it was when I realised that the officers, I'd known who were severely injured and killed didn't have to be statistics.

During my 22 years in policing and security, I witnessed too many preventable tragedies. I knew officers who suffered life-changing injuries from assaults that could have been avoided with the right equipment. I attended funerals for colleagues who might still be alive today if they'd had access to technologies that existed but weren't being implemented fast enough.

The moment that crystallised everything was when I understood that the gap between available safety solutions and their implementation was literally costing lives. I was looking at cutting-edge protective technologies that could neutralize threats in seconds, yet our officers were still relying on equipment and methods that hadn't fundamentally changed in decades.

That's when it hit me: I had a choice. I could accept this as "just how things are," or I could do something about it.

The weight of knowing that every day I delayed action was another day officers went to work without the best possible protection became unbearable. I realised that my 22 years of experience, my network, and my understanding of both the problems and the solutions put me in a unique position to bridge that gap.

I couldn't bring back the colleagues we'd lost, but I could prevent future losses. I couldn't undo the injuries that had already happened, but I could stop them from happening to others.

That pivotal moment of recognition—that I had both the responsibility and the ability to make a difference—led me to leave the security of a traditional career and launch The Squad. It drove me to champion technologies like The Glove with CD3, not because it was profitable, but because it was necessary.

Every morning when I wake up, I'm reminded that there are officers suiting up for shifts who might not come home if I don't act with urgency. That weight, that responsibility, that pivotal understanding that lives literally hang in the balance—that's what brought me to where I am today.

I can't change the past, but I refuse to let the future repeat it.

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